Theatregoers (some of my article for iafrica)

The theatre. That thing that so many of us slot boldly into the "interests" section of our CVs and under the "activities" page on our Facebook profiles. Ah yes, "the theatre" has a certain sophisticated ring to it, doesn’t it?

The Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (known as Gipca) is a body that offers a space to collaborate, debate and better their trade. Recently, Gipca held a Directors and Directing conference which saw a great deal of big wig theatre people coming together to talk about the state of theatre in South Africa. Loads of things were said, but for me, the most important thing to come from this great event, were the questions. The most significant question posed was: where the hell is the audience?

Go to http://lifestyle.iafrica.com/events/747049.html and read the rest.

Lisa and Frank - a scene

LISA and FRANK – a scene

By Jared Kruger

Lisa:       Completely. Perfectly. Completely and perfectly miserable.

Frank:   Ah, babe it’s not that bad. This isn’t SA. We’ll improve it as we go along.

Lisa:       (standing in the kitchen area) There isn’t even enough room for a tea cup in here.

Frank:   We’ll just have to have the kettle and tea stuff in the lounge. (moving towards the tiny couch)

Lisa:       Doesn’t matter we can’t afford tea anyway.

Frank:   Of course we can. (picks up the two grocery bags from next to the front door. Puts them on the tiny counter and starts to unpack – starting with the wine) No more SA wine for you – Chile.

Lisa:       I hate wine.

Frank:   You’ll learn, it’s an acquired taste.

Lisa:       I don’t want to acquire it.

Frank:   (taking out the box of tea) I will take you to Paris and you’ll fall in love with the stuff – you’ll see.

Lisa:       Paris? Perhaps a job first.

Frank:   Babe, you’ll find something.

Lisa:       Recession and all?

Frank:   You’ve got a qualification from Stellenbosch, that’s something and...

Lisa:       Tea?

Frank:   Here you go (throws the box towards Lisa – she drops it)

Lisa:       Frank, stop fooling around.

Frank:   Sorry babe.

Lisa:       (‘jokingly’ and seductively) Make me some tea.

Frank:   Okay, but don’t think that I am going to be your ‘help’ here.

Lisa:       In that case I should be heading straight on back to SA on the next flight.

Frank:   So, the first thing we need to do is sell my bed. And get us a double.

Lisa:       Typical boy – thinking about the sack already.

Frank:   Well... (moving towards her – tries to kiss her)

Lisa:       (Steps back) tea.

Frank:   Right, okay. Not even just a...

Lisa:       How much does a bed cost, about?

Frank:   About a thousand quid.

Lisa:       That’s, 10 000 Rand. Fucking hell.

Frank:   Don’t think in Rand terms. It’ll only make you mad.

Lisa:      You know, I have a perfectly good bed back in Cape Town – perhaps I could ship it out – perhaps it’s cheaper.

Frank:   No, no. Let’s get our own babe – kinda cool to get our own bed – don’t you think?

Lisa:      Stop being sentimental and all mushy. (pause) I suppose my sister needs it – with her kids getting bigger now. (sits on the couch and sighs) I left them. 11 000 kilometres between us now.

Frank:   Skype.

Lisa:      Little Alice is going to grow up so quickly, they do you know. They learn new things everyday and they add centimetres with each hour they sleep. You know, at the airport.

                (Frank tries to caress her, perhaps grabs her bum)

                Hey. You’re going to have to earn that. Get you cold hands off of me.

Frank:   Fucking hell.

Lisa:       What?

Frank:   I thought that. It has been like 4 months Lisa and I’m going a bit crazy.

Lisa:       (taking her mobile phone out) I need to call my mother.

                (Frank drops, and kicks he box of tea and leaves) 

2 Questions about Theatre now

Directors and Directing

A most intimidating and marvellous collection of people in conversation for a whole weekend, and I was there to listen to the conversation. How wonderful!

Jay Pather and GIPCA, thank you. Directors and Directing was a wonderful experience for me. It made me: angry, worried, sad, energised, mobilised and inspired. Today I have a head full of questions. And I truly believe that questions are more important than answers, so I am rather happy then with this head full.

And since I have this head full of questions I thought I’d sift through them all, decide on two of the more important and difficult ones and write them down here. Perhaps putting them down will allow us to continue the conversation. I can’t answer them easily. I need to think, but I wanted to put them into words and out there. So here they are:

Is it possible to try and develop new, young and a strong patronage to theatre in South Africa? And what is the practical role of the director in doing this?

There is no doubt that there is a crisis in theatre, and that crisis lies in the economics of it all. For whatever reason, the ‘bums on seats’ issue is an issue! Why are people not going to see theatre? What can we do, practically, to make things change? And more importantly, after the weekend’s topic, what is the role of the director in doing this?

Then the big one...

Is the weight of race too heavy for the South African stage?

It was clear, that there was tension in the room around this question for most of the weekend... 

Reflection on these questions to come in future writings – time is required for some thought.